When I was a kid, I briefly collected metre stamps, mostly from bins in the post office and from mail that my parents got at their store. If postage stamps had been more readily available, I would probably have ignored metre postage. But a few years ago I learned that postage metres weren't necessarily boring. I found this cover at All Nations Stamp & Coin in Vancouver:
I'd never seen metres mail with multiple impressions. I suspect this was a case of a metre machine badly malfunctioning.
The postage metres aren't the main reason I bought this cover, which as you can see was posted more than a year after VE Day, at a period of severe commodity shortages, including paper. It fit very comfortably into my British war economy collection. This particular cover was made from an unused sheet of paper that was originally made to package salt; here's an exploded view of the inside of the cover:
Here three Canadian wartime metre stamps, two including slogans:
Bob
Bob, the multiple meter cancels were in all probability to make the correct postal rate charge for an international letter, the total comes to 18d which I'm sure one of our more knowledgeable members could confirm as the correct postage.
@Sheepshanks,
Of course! Shoulda thought of that. The standard wartime and postwar international airmail rate was 1s6p, or 18p.
Bob
Hi All
I have heard that meter cancellations are gaining in popularity. They come in a variety of designs and rates. I have come across a number of them in dealer boxes at good prices. My suggestion would be, if you really like them enough to pursue a research, then get them now before they go up in price. IMHO of course.
Chimo
Bujutsu
Here is a link to a recent discussion on meters.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=15004#112050
I have a few, these are some of the more interesting ones. First is Paris, 2nd Dayton, OH,(I'd like a little help with it) 3rd is Great Britain and the 4th, Barranquilla, Columbia S.A.
As to the Dayton, OH meter, I've never been sure what was up with the added $.13 franking. The metered postage was added on April 5th and the cancel added on April 6th. The outer inscription on the cancel reads Dayton Ohio (then something) City Sta.-USPO. I'm not sure if the $.13 Liberty Bell was added on, or if it was part of the original franking.(both are tied to the paper) Would I be correct in thinking the package was forwarded at some point and required the extra postage? Also, what is the full inscription on the cancel and is this where it would have been forwarded to? It doesn't seem like that would require an extra $.13 in postage.
Here's a close up if it helps.
Thanks,
WB
Awesome examples....perfect
Bob I,
early meters were preset, so there'd be a 1d, 2d, 2.5d (or 1c, 2c, 3c) etc; if the fee was more, or different, multiples were used.
as to gaining in popularity, i haven't heard that. they certainly aren't here in SOR's membership, as I had had two different people taking meters from me for free (just paying postage) and both have stopped. I think that meters are increasingly paying the freight on all types of covers, but that's far different than popular
David
Maybe your sources are different than mine???
They are not on the top of the popularity scale, but, heard from different sources (collectors & dealers etc.) that more collect them than in the past, albeit not in large numbers.
Chimo
Bujutsu
http://www.meterstampsociety.com/
I am not a member and I don't actively pursue meters, but I do save them.
One of the fun aspects of metered postage are the variety of ways you can collect them.
1 - Collect all meter types from one country
2 - Collect all meter numbers from one state
3 - Collect all meter numbers for a particular type of meter
4 - Collect meters with slogans by topic. One lady collects every meter slogan in the world that contains a picture of a turtle.
5 - Collect meters by rate (first class, third class, insured, registered, express mail, etc)
6 - Collect meters as part of a postal history collection.
7 - Collect a metered postage cover from every country that issued them.
Or you can use your own imagination to come up with a different collecting motive altogether.
I myself am interested in 1, 2 and 7.
Cheers,
Antonio
and, of course, some rates are extant ONLY with meters, including the meter-specific half-penny discount (46.5c vs 47c first class) rate, and many other discounted rates (the presort stamps, for instance, represent PART of the rate)
This ties in with Antonio's #4 but I think collecting only ones with a neat pictorial would be a beautiful collection.
4 and 6 are the ones that interest me the most......but you never know what might pop up in a selection saved over the years
Even meters are getting scarce now. Most bulk mailings from large companies and other large users now use PPI s ( post paid impressions ) which are pre-printed on the envelopes rather like the old pre-paid postal stationery used to be.
Of course in the deregulated regime here, much of the "upstream" mail is collected by private companies at discount postage then fed into the mailstream for "downstream" delivery by Royal Mail ( probably at an uneconomic rate). Of course it is the door-to-door delivery which is tha major portion of the cost.
Malcolm
Here are a few from my collection. Some are quite fancy.
Chimo
Bujutsu
Those are some nice ones Bujutsu.
I like to have at least the strips or a slogan so you can know which company issued the meter like you have there.
Part of the interest for meters from Minnesota is to track the meter number to the company or organization that owned the meter.
Cheers,
Antonio
Those are awesome...Thanks for sharing
Bujutsu:
Yamaha! Very nice!
The then-wife owned a C7.
She had very sensitive concert-quality fingers, and did not want an instrument that did not suit her perfectly.
So, she flew to the factory in Japan, went into the warehouse, and picked it out.
They let her play one after the other.
She could not tell them apart.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
I've never seriously collected meters, but have always held onto the interesting ones, especially topicals. Here's a page from my USA album. Always room for something interesting related to the stamp topic.
Hi all. Glad you liked the images. Here are a few more to add to the list. I have others, but the ones I have been showing in here are my favourites. I particularly like the Canadian 'postage due' and, the Belgian proof card plus the one with the Belgian railway logo. That's about it for me.
Chimo
Bujutsu
WB,
I don't think the 13 cent stamp was added to the meter, rather the meter was added to the stamp. Notice that the meter isn't applied directly to the envelope but to a meter strip, like a modern PVI. The post office added the $2.35, most likely to cover the contemporary charge of $2.10 for Registered Mail plus $0.25 for return receipt.
Lars
Thanks Lars, I hadn't considered registered mail.
Much appreciated,
WB
There is a Wikibook on Wikipedia titled International Postage Meter Stamp catalog. It has a listing of many countries meter cancels. Great reference. If you go to Wikibooks and search the International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog, you will find it.
David said,
"Early meters were preset, so there'd be a 1d, 2d, 2.5d (or 1c, 2c, 3c) etc; if the fee was more, or different, multiples were used. "
"I didn't know that. Thanks, David. I seem to remember that my dad used postage metres in his business, or maybe sold them (he owned an office supply store). I think they had to be taken to the post office to be "charged". I really don't know much about them at all.
"
Thank you Ben Franklin for your story...My husband did much the same when he worked his job in Halifax NS I am adding this story(with your permission) and his to my meter collection for future reference. Hopefully some day my grandson will read this and understand the history and use of meters in by gone years....
No worries Cheryl, I'd be pleased to be part of your meter collection. The story took place in Red Bank, new Jersey
Thanks for confirming my memory, Tom. At least the part about going to the post office to recharge the meter. I do wonder why my dad used a postage meter — his was a pretty small business and can't have had a large mailing list or many accounts receivable.
Bob
Circa BenFranklin1902's story, I had a client who sold Pitney Bowes machines, ranging from simple onesy-twosy postage meters to machines that would seal & apply postage to a stack of outgoing mail.
Yes, in those days, you detached the core of the machine and carried it to the post office for charging; guess how its done nowadays?
But, even in those days, the newer machines let you dial the amount of postage to apply to each piece.
Older machines had slugs - eg, 1c, 2c, 3c - that you physically swapped.
http://www.meterstampsociety.com/ ... The Meter Stamp Society site has much more information on the evolution of these devices
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
Anyone interested in Postmarks(not metered) there are 20000 for sale here:
http://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/6988867-britain-special-cancellations-on-cover-fragments-more-than-20-000-pieces
I am partial to illustrated meter imprints that feature aviation.
Here are a couple of samples.
Roy
Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!
Classic rookie mistake! I thought meter-cancels were useless to collectors so threw away probably a shoebox full of covers (and the "cut square" types shown) found in THE HOARD. I came across one a month or so ago and put it in Auction as a joke, and was gob-smacked when it sold.
I'm going to have to take another look, but I'm pretty sure I got rid of everything.
I'm killing myself thinking of how much that may have helped my US Divestiture Program. "Oh, the humanity!"
Dave.
I collect the meters that have advertising for railroads and old radio shows similar to Roy's pictures of the aviation meter covers.
Now here's a nice Pitney-Bowes specimen; not mine though.
And here's a rather disturbing 1962 advert, which is surely calling out for a caption:
Roy,
I really like that helicopter meter cover - want to part with it???
I am a collector of helicopter mail.
I didn't see a post in this thread that linked to this other resource. I have used it for some look-ups:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog
Interesting site. Thanks for the link.
Amazing how Guyana issues 100,000 stamps a year and uses meters!
Randy, it's on the way ... and postage paid with Blue Jays stamps!
Roy
Thanks, Roy!
BlueJays, huh? That works.... anything but New York!!
Let me know what I owe you, okay?
With Blue Jays stamps PRICELESS!!!!
Is the implication of the Pitney-Bowes advertisement
that a female cannot operate their labeler
without a man standing there to supervise her?
Looks like he is cozying up to get a better whiff of her perfume. Looks like a creeper to me.
I believe that there is a Meter Stamp Society. Just wondering if we have any members who collect meter stamps or meter stamps on envelope
Didn`t realize the assortment of meter stamps available. Can anyone add information on the history of Henry Meisel ?
re: Meter Cancels
When I was a kid, I briefly collected metre stamps, mostly from bins in the post office and from mail that my parents got at their store. If postage stamps had been more readily available, I would probably have ignored metre postage. But a few years ago I learned that postage metres weren't necessarily boring. I found this cover at All Nations Stamp & Coin in Vancouver:
I'd never seen metres mail with multiple impressions. I suspect this was a case of a metre machine badly malfunctioning.
The postage metres aren't the main reason I bought this cover, which as you can see was posted more than a year after VE Day, at a period of severe commodity shortages, including paper. It fit very comfortably into my British war economy collection. This particular cover was made from an unused sheet of paper that was originally made to package salt; here's an exploded view of the inside of the cover:
Here three Canadian wartime metre stamps, two including slogans:
Bob
re: Meter Cancels
Bob, the multiple meter cancels were in all probability to make the correct postal rate charge for an international letter, the total comes to 18d which I'm sure one of our more knowledgeable members could confirm as the correct postage.
re: Meter Cancels
@Sheepshanks,
Of course! Shoulda thought of that. The standard wartime and postwar international airmail rate was 1s6p, or 18p.
Bob
re: Meter Cancels
Hi All
I have heard that meter cancellations are gaining in popularity. They come in a variety of designs and rates. I have come across a number of them in dealer boxes at good prices. My suggestion would be, if you really like them enough to pursue a research, then get them now before they go up in price. IMHO of course.
Chimo
Bujutsu
re: Meter Cancels
Here is a link to a recent discussion on meters.
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=15004#112050
re: Meter Cancels
I have a few, these are some of the more interesting ones. First is Paris, 2nd Dayton, OH,(I'd like a little help with it) 3rd is Great Britain and the 4th, Barranquilla, Columbia S.A.
As to the Dayton, OH meter, I've never been sure what was up with the added $.13 franking. The metered postage was added on April 5th and the cancel added on April 6th. The outer inscription on the cancel reads Dayton Ohio (then something) City Sta.-USPO. I'm not sure if the $.13 Liberty Bell was added on, or if it was part of the original franking.(both are tied to the paper) Would I be correct in thinking the package was forwarded at some point and required the extra postage? Also, what is the full inscription on the cancel and is this where it would have been forwarded to? It doesn't seem like that would require an extra $.13 in postage.
Here's a close up if it helps.
Thanks,
WB
re: Meter Cancels
Bob I,
early meters were preset, so there'd be a 1d, 2d, 2.5d (or 1c, 2c, 3c) etc; if the fee was more, or different, multiples were used.
as to gaining in popularity, i haven't heard that. they certainly aren't here in SOR's membership, as I had had two different people taking meters from me for free (just paying postage) and both have stopped. I think that meters are increasingly paying the freight on all types of covers, but that's far different than popular
David
re: Meter Cancels
Maybe your sources are different than mine???
They are not on the top of the popularity scale, but, heard from different sources (collectors & dealers etc.) that more collect them than in the past, albeit not in large numbers.
Chimo
Bujutsu
re: Meter Cancels
http://www.meterstampsociety.com/
I am not a member and I don't actively pursue meters, but I do save them.
re: Meter Cancels
One of the fun aspects of metered postage are the variety of ways you can collect them.
1 - Collect all meter types from one country
2 - Collect all meter numbers from one state
3 - Collect all meter numbers for a particular type of meter
4 - Collect meters with slogans by topic. One lady collects every meter slogan in the world that contains a picture of a turtle.
5 - Collect meters by rate (first class, third class, insured, registered, express mail, etc)
6 - Collect meters as part of a postal history collection.
7 - Collect a metered postage cover from every country that issued them.
Or you can use your own imagination to come up with a different collecting motive altogether.
I myself am interested in 1, 2 and 7.
Cheers,
Antonio
re: Meter Cancels
and, of course, some rates are extant ONLY with meters, including the meter-specific half-penny discount (46.5c vs 47c first class) rate, and many other discounted rates (the presort stamps, for instance, represent PART of the rate)
re: Meter Cancels
This ties in with Antonio's #4 but I think collecting only ones with a neat pictorial would be a beautiful collection.
re: Meter Cancels
4 and 6 are the ones that interest me the most......but you never know what might pop up in a selection saved over the years
re: Meter Cancels
Even meters are getting scarce now. Most bulk mailings from large companies and other large users now use PPI s ( post paid impressions ) which are pre-printed on the envelopes rather like the old pre-paid postal stationery used to be.
Of course in the deregulated regime here, much of the "upstream" mail is collected by private companies at discount postage then fed into the mailstream for "downstream" delivery by Royal Mail ( probably at an uneconomic rate). Of course it is the door-to-door delivery which is tha major portion of the cost.
Malcolm
re: Meter Cancels
Here are a few from my collection. Some are quite fancy.
Chimo
Bujutsu
re: Meter Cancels
Those are some nice ones Bujutsu.
I like to have at least the strips or a slogan so you can know which company issued the meter like you have there.
Part of the interest for meters from Minnesota is to track the meter number to the company or organization that owned the meter.
Cheers,
Antonio
re: Meter Cancels
Those are awesome...Thanks for sharing
re: Meter Cancels
Bujutsu:
Yamaha! Very nice!
The then-wife owned a C7.
She had very sensitive concert-quality fingers, and did not want an instrument that did not suit her perfectly.
So, she flew to the factory in Japan, went into the warehouse, and picked it out.
They let her play one after the other.
She could not tell them apart.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: Meter Cancels
I've never seriously collected meters, but have always held onto the interesting ones, especially topicals. Here's a page from my USA album. Always room for something interesting related to the stamp topic.
re: Meter Cancels
Hi all. Glad you liked the images. Here are a few more to add to the list. I have others, but the ones I have been showing in here are my favourites. I particularly like the Canadian 'postage due' and, the Belgian proof card plus the one with the Belgian railway logo. That's about it for me.
Chimo
Bujutsu
re: Meter Cancels
WB,
I don't think the 13 cent stamp was added to the meter, rather the meter was added to the stamp. Notice that the meter isn't applied directly to the envelope but to a meter strip, like a modern PVI. The post office added the $2.35, most likely to cover the contemporary charge of $2.10 for Registered Mail plus $0.25 for return receipt.
Lars
re: Meter Cancels
Thanks Lars, I hadn't considered registered mail.
Much appreciated,
WB
re: Meter Cancels
There is a Wikibook on Wikipedia titled International Postage Meter Stamp catalog. It has a listing of many countries meter cancels. Great reference. If you go to Wikibooks and search the International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog, you will find it.
re: Meter Cancels
David said,
"Early meters were preset, so there'd be a 1d, 2d, 2.5d (or 1c, 2c, 3c) etc; if the fee was more, or different, multiples were used. "
re: Meter Cancels
"I didn't know that. Thanks, David. I seem to remember that my dad used postage metres in his business, or maybe sold them (he owned an office supply store). I think they had to be taken to the post office to be "charged". I really don't know much about them at all.
"
re: Meter Cancels
Thank you Ben Franklin for your story...My husband did much the same when he worked his job in Halifax NS I am adding this story(with your permission) and his to my meter collection for future reference. Hopefully some day my grandson will read this and understand the history and use of meters in by gone years....
re: Meter Cancels
No worries Cheryl, I'd be pleased to be part of your meter collection. The story took place in Red Bank, new Jersey
re: Meter Cancels
Thanks for confirming my memory, Tom. At least the part about going to the post office to recharge the meter. I do wonder why my dad used a postage meter — his was a pretty small business and can't have had a large mailing list or many accounts receivable.
Bob
re: Meter Cancels
Circa BenFranklin1902's story, I had a client who sold Pitney Bowes machines, ranging from simple onesy-twosy postage meters to machines that would seal & apply postage to a stack of outgoing mail.
Yes, in those days, you detached the core of the machine and carried it to the post office for charging; guess how its done nowadays?
But, even in those days, the newer machines let you dial the amount of postage to apply to each piece.
Older machines had slugs - eg, 1c, 2c, 3c - that you physically swapped.
http://www.meterstampsociety.com/ ... The Meter Stamp Society site has much more information on the evolution of these devices
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
re: Meter Cancels
Anyone interested in Postmarks(not metered) there are 20000 for sale here:
http://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/6988867-britain-special-cancellations-on-cover-fragments-more-than-20-000-pieces
re: Meter Cancels
I am partial to illustrated meter imprints that feature aviation.
Here are a couple of samples.
Roy
re: Meter Cancels
Aaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!
Classic rookie mistake! I thought meter-cancels were useless to collectors so threw away probably a shoebox full of covers (and the "cut square" types shown) found in THE HOARD. I came across one a month or so ago and put it in Auction as a joke, and was gob-smacked when it sold.
I'm going to have to take another look, but I'm pretty sure I got rid of everything.
I'm killing myself thinking of how much that may have helped my US Divestiture Program. "Oh, the humanity!"
Dave.
re: Meter Cancels
I collect the meters that have advertising for railroads and old radio shows similar to Roy's pictures of the aviation meter covers.
re: Meter Cancels
Now here's a nice Pitney-Bowes specimen; not mine though.
And here's a rather disturbing 1962 advert, which is surely calling out for a caption:
re: Meter Cancels
Roy,
I really like that helicopter meter cover - want to part with it???
I am a collector of helicopter mail.
re: Meter Cancels
I didn't see a post in this thread that linked to this other resource. I have used it for some look-ups:
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog
re: Meter Cancels
Interesting site. Thanks for the link.
Amazing how Guyana issues 100,000 stamps a year and uses meters!
re: Meter Cancels
Randy, it's on the way ... and postage paid with Blue Jays stamps!
Roy
re: Meter Cancels
Thanks, Roy!
BlueJays, huh? That works.... anything but New York!!
Let me know what I owe you, okay?
re: Meter Cancels
With Blue Jays stamps PRICELESS!!!!
re: Meter Cancels
Is the implication of the Pitney-Bowes advertisement
that a female cannot operate their labeler
without a man standing there to supervise her?
re: Meter Cancels
Looks like he is cozying up to get a better whiff of her perfume. Looks like a creeper to me.